SHELTON FAMILY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Pre- 1850 (Possibly as early as 1830)

ADDITONAL NAMES: Possum Trot Cemetery and Church

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

By 1874, during reconstruction, my formerly enslaved, matrilineal third great-grandparents, Hardy and Mary Shelton relocated to the Flatwoods District of Floyd County, Rome, Georgia, from nearby Coosa, also known as the North Carolina District (http://www.samhardin.family/coosa/index.html). Hardy was a farmer, and Mary was a homemaker and healer. On December 19, 1874, Hardy purchased 120 acres of land on lot 59, thereby establishing the Shelton Family Settlement (as referenced by current descendants). It was on this land that their family grew to 12 children (Laura, Lucy, Frances, Aaron Hardy, Mary, Henri, Rhoda, Lula, Joel Lee, William, Matilda, and Judy). Through hard work, courage, determination, and family and community loyalty, the Shelton’s descendants and their spouses purchased additional acreage, expanding their land ownership to nearly 700 acres. The families prospered despite a lack of formal and/or limited education. However, over time, numerous land transactions, and as the men died, much of the land was eventually sold or lost to alleged debt. By the mid-1920s, with few exceptions, much of the land was no longer possessed by Shelton family descendants. As a result, many descendants migrated to other parts of the country for work and to begin anew. Some descendants chose to remain in Rome and surrounding areas.

Today, only the Shelton Family Cemetery remains as evidence of our ancestor's habitation and hard work on the surrounding land. Deed research conducted by an architectural historian of deeds from 1858 and forward, indicate the 1.5 acres of land (Lots 49 and 60) upon which the Shelton Family The cemetery and the Possum Trot Church lie and fail to support ownership by the Shelton family or their descendants. And from 1858, forward, the land was excepted from any sale or transfer. The 1858 deed was held by James M. Spullock, a lawyer, who likely inherited the land from his father. Ongoing research appears to point to the Spullock (Spurlock spelling variation) family as the likely enslavers of the Shelton family in Georgia. The deeds also show that the 1.5 acres were never purchased through legal sale by Berry College. Instead, the land was “appropriated” as indicated in the history of Possum Trot as posted on the college website, likely through pedes possession by Martha Berry, founder of Berry College. In other words, the land was subsumed by her because she owned vast amounts of the surrounding land. It is unlikely we will ever know the full truth surrounding the land transactions. The Shelton Family Cemetery holds 60+ graves, 12 of which have a marker identifying the family member at eternal rest, but most are marked with fieldstones or nothing at all (Ground Penetrating Radar revealed the approximate number of graves, with indications that there are likely more). Several yards from the Shelton Family Cemetery sits the historic Possum Trot Church, built around 1830 to 1850. Before 1900, the church was known as the Primitive Baptist Church and School, and possibly the Pleasant Hill Church and School. In 1900, the area became known as Possum Trot when Martha McChesney Berry, “appropriated” the alleged abandoned church for use as a Sunday School and School (until 1954) for the white mountain children.

BCN Contact Information:

Angela R. James

Shelton Descendants Historical Society

313.598.0117

info@sheltondescendants.org

sheltondescendants.org@gmail.com